Michael Tackett is a journalist who has written for The New York Times and is currently the deputy Washington bureau chief for Associated Press. He's also the author of a book on U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, “The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost his Party.” He's speaking about his book at the Filson Historical Society, in Louisville, Thursday at 6 p.m.
He spoke with LPM News' Bill Burton about his new book.
Bill Burton: Mitch McConnell is well known for being extremely guarded. You've had no real history with him before this book. How'd you gain his trust to write such an open, honest biography of him?
Michael Tackett: Well, that's, that's a great question. I think that in many respects, he just took a measure of me in some fashion and decided that it would be better for him to have an author who was not associated with any kind of political bias one way or the other. Somebody who would sort of approach this objectively, but also critically, in the sense of examining the information and let the facts play out where they may. And in fact, I really, I think it was a really kind of an interesting risk that he took, because we didn't know one another, but I told him exactly what, what I wanted to do. I said, I'm not interested in a screed from the right or the left. I'm interested in doing an honest objective account of your life and career, and the only real condition is I have to have total editorial control over the product, because if I don't, it won't be seen as objective. And if it's not seen as objective, it won't be seen as credible.
BB: Your book revealed the level of disgust that McConnell has for President Donald Trump, but McConnell worked with him regardless. When it came time for the impeachment vote after the Jan. 6 insurrection, McConnell voted to acquit, and many have said that that shows that McConnell's political career comes above all else. How does McConnell view his actions?
MT: So the way McConnell views his actions was twofold. One, was a legal rationale, which was, that the impeachment provisions don't really apply to somebody who is no longer in office. So that was the legal argument.
The political argument he was making was he really wanted to have the energy of the Republican base in the midterms and like a lot of people, I think he thought, you know, that after Jan. 6 that President Trump would sort of fade from the scene. Of course, as we know that's not what happened.
BB: One of McConnell's greatest accomplishments, regardless of how anyone may feel about it, is filling the Supreme Court with his choices. Justice Alito even referred to it as the McConnell court. Does McConnell consider that his greatest accomplishment?
MT: He does. And he would add to that the naming of several hundred federal district court and appeals court judges as well. So part of this is born of necessity and part of it is born of his view of the world. He sees the courts as having a very long-term impact where laws can be passed and then changed.
BB: Last year, McConnell said history will settle every account. How is history going to remember McConnell?
MT: You know, it's always interesting to try to answer that question when we haven't really had very many years to reflect on the answer. Clearly, he has been perhaps the most consequential Senate leader since Lyndon Johnson.
He was a master tactician who, he lived politics, for sure, and still does, you know, he sees many, many things through strictly a political prism. There are some exceptions which will also be part of, I think, how history regards him, and that is when many in his party, including Donald Trump, including JD Vance, were opposed to aid to Ukraine, McConnell pushed to have that additional aid passed. And it's probably fair to say that if Ukraine had not had that aid over the last year, the situation on the ground in the war with Russia would be much different.
BB: That's journalist Michael Tackett, who has written a book on Senator Mitch McConnell, "The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost his Party." Michael, thank you so much for your time.
MT: It's great to be with you, Bill. Thank you.
This transcript was edited for clarity.
